Our Rich Heritage
Where the Future of Naval Aviation Begins
Test and Support Functions Divided
The Naval Air Test Center was established as a separate entity June 16, 1945, organizationally dividing the test and support functions. During WWII, hundreds of combat experienced pilots arrived at Pax River to test airplanes. The evolution of the Navy test pilot began with rainy day discussions between seasoned veterans and aeronautical engineers. Formalized classroom instruction began in 1948 with the establishment of a Test Pilot Training Division. The test pilots not only flew the proliferation of U.S. airplanes built for the war effort, but were given opportunities to examine enemy aircraft as well. Captured airplanes such as a German Focke-Wulf 190 and Doring DO 335A and Japanese Kate and Tony were test-flown, with findings on their vulnerabilities passed on to fleet pilots. Pax River’s history is studded with milestones. Radar fire control, radar tracking, airfield lighting and instrument landing techniques were developed and refined at Pax River. The first U.S. all jet-powered airplane, the XP-59A, was flight tested here in 1944. The FR-1 Fireball, a carrier-based fighter which combined a conventional engine and a General Electric jet engine, and the FD-1 Phantom, the first Navy all-jet airplane to operate from a carrier, were tested at Pax River in 19451946. The first U.S. test of the adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations was conducted by the Naval Air Test Center in 1946 when Lt. Cmdr. James Davidson flew a Phantom aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Test pilots were exposed to ejection seats in 1949, barrier engagements in 1951 and a simulated angled deck aboard USS Midway in 1952.
’50s-’60s See Test Programs Expand
The Korean War, from 1950 to 1953, intensified efforts at Pax River. The air station was faced with developing jet aircraft and at the same time improving existing conventional weapons for the war effort. The challenge grew as jet aircraft routinely eclipsed the speed of sound and airplane cannons were supplemented with guided missiles. Several airborne early warning squadrons operated from Pax River in the 1950s. Among them were VW-2, VW-11 and VW-15. The squadrons patrolled the Atlantic Ocean along the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line until their disestablishment in the 1960s. NATC’s increased responsibility for development as well as pure testing was acknowledged as early as 1951. Rapidly
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advancing technology forced changes in test techniques and in the organizational structure. In 1953, the Tactical Test Division was merged with the Service Test Division. The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School was established in 1958. The Weapons Systems Test Division was established in 1960 through the consolidation of the Armament Test and Electronics Test divisions. This nation’s great space adventure started with the selection of the original seven astronauts in 1959. Four of the seven were TPS graduates. In 1961, former Navy test pilot Alan Shepard became the first American in space. A year later, three test pilots from Pax River became the first Americans to orbit the earth. Hostilities in Southeast Asia in the 1960s brought a sense of urgency to test programs at Pax River, particularly those dealing with ordnance. The unorthodox nature of the action in Vietnam turned the focus at Pax River from technological advancements to further refinement of more conventional weapons.
ASW Buildup
At the same time, a buildup of fleet antisubmarine warfare squadrons was taking place at Pax. Patrol Squadrons 8, 24, 44, 49 and 56 formed Fleet Air Patuxent and later Fleet Air Wing Five. A detachment from VP-30 was formed at Pax River in 1962; when the detachment was disestablished in 1966, VP-30 was relocated to the air station from Jacksonville, Fla. Oceanographic Development Squadron Eight, then known as the Oceanographic Air Survey Unit, was homeported here in 1965, and Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Four was established here in 1968 from a Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) detachment left behind